It is an industry practice to assemble various components into assemblies in modular form. The modules are then connected one to another in the latter stages of vehicle assembly. A wide variety of fasteners are used to secure vehicle modules, components and assemblies one to another. Often, “hard” fasteners such as bolts, screws, rivets, clamps, and others are used to provide secure attachments, and also attachments providing flush mating surfaces for reasons of safety and aesthetics. In other areas so-called hard fasteners cannot be used or packaged. In such areas, however, it is still a requirement to provide a flush mating surface between the attached components, for reasons of safety and also consumer preference/aesthetics. A non-flush or partially mismatched mating surface between vehicle components or assemblies, while perfectly safe, may be perceived by a consumer as indicative of poor quality and so rejected.
As one non-limiting example, various components of a vehicle closest to the radiator are typically packaged into an assembly commonly called a front-end module. The front-end module includes a frame structure commonly referred to as a bolster. Likewise, the components of the vehicle front grille are provided as a grille assembly, which comprises many components provided as a large molded piece that must be connected to the front-end module bolster. Many prior art assemblies used hard fasteners such as threaded screws, threaded bolts, etc. to provide this connection due to strength requirements, i.e. the need to provide a connection that is not easily broken and that will not shift, rub, or squeak during vehicle operation. However, such hard fasteners add time to the process of assembling a vehicle.
Moreover, it is desirable to provide a hidden connection between the grille assembly and the front-end module bolster, to present a more seamless appearance to the finished vehicle front. This often is not possible with conventional hard fasteners. Also, during the assembly process, unfortunately damage can occur to components of, e.g., the vehicle grille assembly, the front fascia, and the like necessitating separation of the grille assembly from the front-end module bolster for repair or replacement of the damaged components. Prior art fasteners used to provide a hidden connection between the grille assembly and the front-end module bolster are often not designed to be releasable, again adding difficulty and time to the process of repair/replacement, and potentially requiring replacement also of the fastener.
For this reason it is known to provide alternative fastening systems, many providing a feature of releasability, that do not rely on conventional “hard” fasteners. One such system as described in U.S. Published Patent Appl. No. 2008/0317549 is fabricated from a plastic and includes a substantially quadrangular “doghouse” connected to a front end module of a vehicle (see FIG. 1). The system further includes a cooperating “penetrator” connected to the vehicle grille including an intermediate clip for mating with and engaging the doghouse interior. The system thus presents a solution, but a solution requiring multiple interacting components each adding cost and a potential area of mechanical failure.
To solve this and other problems, the present disclosure relates to a fastener for attaching vehicle components such as grille assemblies and front-end module bolsters to one another. Advantageously, the fastener is simple, robust, and configured for ease of attachment, but is also configured to be releasable in the event that removal of the grille assembly for repair/replacement is necessary during the assembly process.